Al Dente and Serendipity

Posted on 2013/04/01 08:22:53 (April 2013).

[Tuesday 26th March 2013]
Another day at the office, not much to report really.

Went for a quick drink after work with some people from the office (two expats and one other visitor) at the "craft beer" bar in Roppongi which I've already become quite fed up with (1200 yen for a US pint - that's the equivalent of £10 a pint at the current exchange, and coverting to UK pints). but which seems unavoidable. I had one (small) drink there and made my excuses.

I was really keen to revisit a spaghetti place in Shinjuku called Al Dente, and so set my mind to get there this evening. Consulting the web though I realised they closed really early - last orders at 9pm - and it was already some time after 8 by the time I left Roppongi. I had a bit of a mad dash to get there - especially as I recall it not being the easiest of places to find - but just made it with five minutes to spare before last orders.

Sometimes when you haven't been to a restaurant for a few years it isn't quite as good as you remember it - or maybe your tastes have just changed in the intervening period - but I'm pleased to report the spaghetti with tomato and mushroom sauce at Al Dente is still utterly delicious. If anything even better than I remember it.

I went for a bit of a walk round Shinjuku after that, to see if I could find an interesting bar to go to or anything, but nothing really took my fancy so I just headed back to Roppongi. On my return though I still wasn't quite ready to call it a night, and decided to try out a cocktail bar I'd heard about from a colleague called Serendipity. Apparently the owner is a friend of Tyler Brûlé, and even has a cocktail named after him there. I started off with a "benchmark" - a Negroni - which was solid if unadventurous with the ingrdients. I then tried the eponymous Serendipity - a secret recipe involving apple juice and the sorts of spices you'd use in mulled wine. Then I ended with the weirdly named "Lady in Devil" (I'm not really sure how to parse that sequence of words) which was surprisingly nice - and made me think I must find a bottle of parfait amour, which has notes of roses and lavender about it.

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